Rackets for use in tennis, badminton, paddle ball, squash, raquetball and other such games include a flat hitting portion, an elongated neck and a handle which usually is formed on an extension of the neck. The hitting portion is usually strung and includes two parallel faces. The handle portion of the racket includes a grip which the hand engages and which is of critical importance to the player in determining the skill with which he may use the racket. The size, feel and comfort of the grip is important as well as the ease with which it may be held in a proper orientation with respect to the plane of the stroke, so that the user has complete control of where the ball is hit and the type of spin imparted thereto.
Conventional rackets, particularly tennis rackets, are generally provided with an octagonally shaped grip, whether they be formed of metal, glass or wood. Such rackets are generally symmetric about a plane drawn through the handle which is parallel to the racket face. The grip size or the circumference of the grip is typically adjusted by varying the thickness of the grip only in a direction transverse of the racket face. Such alterations are produced by increasing the transverse thickness of the handle an equal amount on each side of the plane parallel to the racket face so that the handle always remains symmetric with respect to this plane. The thickness of the grip in a direction parallel to the racket face normally remains unchanged and the basic octagonal shape of the grip is always maintained.
In most rackets, the handle is formed as an extension of the throat, and a grip is provided by adhering pallets to the lateral sides of the handle parallel to the racket face. The grip size is thus adjusted by adjusting of the thickness of these pallets transversely of the racket face. For a wooden racket, wooden pallets are used and for metal or fiberglass rackets, plastic pallets are often used. The pallets are typically trapezoidal in shape, with the large flat base resting against the throat extension to produce the octagonally shaped grip desired. The pallets and handle are then wrapped with a conventional material such as leather, to provide a gripping surface. In use, one flat surface rests parallel to the racket face against the palm of the hand while the opposite flat surface parallel to the racket face is gripped by the thumb and forefingers.
Since the grip does not conform to the shape of the palm, the flat surfaces thereof primarily rest in contact with the heel of the palm and with an area at the base of the index finger. The fleshy portion of the palm only loosely engages the grip and is not in a comfortable, secure relation therewith.
Grips of such conventional rackets have a tendency to twist in the hand as the racket face strikes the ball if the ball is not struck directly in the center of the racket face. This twisting motion or torque must be resisted by the grip provided by the thumb and forefingers against the heel of the palm and base of the index finger. Since the fleshy part of the palm does not securely engage the grip, it does not assist appreciably in resisting this rotational motion.